Tinkoff-Saxo’s Nikolay Trusov claimed 2nd place behind Michal Golas in Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen Koolskamp after 192 intense kilometers of circuit racing. After several attacks, Trusov took part in forming the decisive front group that managed to keep the chasing main group at bay.

After the race conclusion, Tinkoff-Saxo Head Sports Director Steven de Jongh tells that Trusov’s presence in the front group was part of the team strategy.

“Trusov finished second after Debusschere was disqualified. It’s a nice result and start to the weekend racing. We are happy for Nikolay, he could do his own race and he delivered. It was a very fast start, at one point a group formed out front without any of our guys but the peloton closed them down again. Nikolay came down to the car and we told him to race aggressively. You have to be in the break to win this race, otherwise we had Mørkøv and Kolar behind”, says Steven de Jongh and adds:

“In the end he did second place behind Golas. For us it’s a nice result and I think he got the maximum out of today”.

Tinkoff-Saxo will keep up the pace, as the squad in Belgium is set to embark on Primus Classic Impanis-Van Petegem Saturday.

The team consists of Nikolay Trusov, Michael Mørkøv, Michael Kolar, Matteo Tosatto, Bruno Pires, Edward Beltran, Evgeny Petrov, while stagiaire Antwan Tolhoek replaces Michael Gogl.

“Today’s result was positive in the light of tomorrow’s race. We are looking forward to it and the team stays pretty much the same with only Tolhoek replacing Gogl. The course for Impanis-Van Petegem is a bit hillier but our three fast guys Trusov, Kolar and Mørkøv should stand a chance of securing a fine result. Today’s outcome is a good sign, as we saw that Nikolay has speed in the legs and we will approach the race in the same proactive manner”, finishes Steven de Jongh.